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Handel Oratorio Society to perform Brahms' Requiem

Free tickets are available to middle and high school students and their families

March 28, 2013

Soprano Claire Kuttler and baritone Saul Nache

As part of its 132nd season, the Handel Oratorio Society will present Johannes Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Augustana Symphony Orchestra on April 20 at 8 p.m. April 20 in Centennial Hall, 3703 7th Ave., Rock Island.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $10 for students and Augustana faculty and staff. Free tickets are available for middle and high school students and their families due to a grant from the Meredith Foundation.

Two Quad-City area natives, soprano Claire Kuttler and baritone Saul Nache, will serve as soloists for the concert.

Kuttler, originally from Davenport, has performed a variety of roles, including Mimí in La Bohème, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni andMichaela in Carmen. She also has sung for former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Kuttler lives in New York City and will complete her professional studies diploma at the Mannes College of Music this spring.

Nache, originally of Silvis, Ill., won the Bravo Award in the 2007 Bel Canto Foundation Competition in Chicago. He was a vocal fellow at the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center in 2009. Some of his favorite roles include Schaunard in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Nache received his Master of Music (M.M.) from the University of Illinois and currently is a member of the voice faculty at Augustana.

Brahms' Requiem strays from the Catholic Church's Requiem Mass. Instead of concentrating the text on the mourning of death, Brahms chose excerpts from the Lutheran Bible that speak to and comfort the living.